New restaurant opens at renovated Hyatt Regency Irvine

Orange County-born restaurant owner Doug Pak created Irvine restaurant Warehouse 72 Modern Bistro + Bar with three elements in mind.

“The most important thing is beauty, the second is vitality, and the third is positivity,” Pak said.

Pak opened the first Warehouse 72 in Houston, Texas, but made the decision to bring the concept to Orange County, where he has lived with his family for 15 years. The Irvine location in the renovated Hyatt Regency Irvine will open to the public on August 15.

“Our mission is to create a friendly space that promotes human connections and positive experiences,” Pak said.

One detail aimed at providing beauty is a 30-foot LED digital art installation that plays rotating 3D art images. During a recent visit, a loop of soothing scenes, such as the ocean at sunset, a row of gondolas bobbing on the water in Italy and cherry blossom trees with pink petals floating in the breeze, rotated during dinner.

A raw stone bar and large windows that let in plenty of natural light are meant to create a sense of calm energy, Pak said. The dining room offers seating for the family and the living room, while the outdoor area includes seating around a central fire pit.

“Our outdoor and indoor bar and patio are designed with entertaining in mind. Once open, we will be able to host private events for up to 300 guests,” Pak said.

Executive Chef Jaime Salazar curates a modern American menu that features a seasonal rotation of fresh ingredients from suppliers like Salmon Creek Farms and Sadie Rose Baking. Salazar brings a decade of experience to his role at Warehouse 72, most recently serving as executive chef at a French brasserie in the Houston area before moving to Warehouse 72’s Texas location.

“When designing this menu, we wanted to include a lot of ‘clean’ food,” Salazar said.

That means a menu rich in superfoods and antioxidants, using ingredients like kimchi, which is believed to support gut health, and aloe vera, which is thought to have anti-inflammatory properties and aid digestion.

For example, the market salad features baby kale, golden raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds, dried apricots and fresh blueberries. Australian lamb chops are breaded with herbs and served with oak-smoked sweet potatoes and carrots, and wild-caught sea bass is glazed with miso and served with baby bok choy and kimchi fried rice.

“One of the things we pride ourselves on is using local suppliers. Not being from this area, we did a lot of research to try to find some of the local fishing spots here, and Pacific Fish has some great options,” Salazar said.

Salazar also said the restaurant recently entered into an agreement with Malaia’s Microgreens, an Irvine-based hydroponic farm and microgreens supplier.

“Malaia just started bringing us microgreens last week,” Salazar said. “We’re committed to having a lot of things on our menu that we can source locally and help the community around us.”

Brunch will also be available daily, with breakfast classics like eggs Benedict topped with traditional hollandaise sauce and the ubiquitous avocado toast with arugula, cherry tomatoes, red onion and crispy chili oil. Guests will also find items like ube pancakes and a chicken curry naan roll, stuffed with grilled Jidori chicken breast, tomatoes, red onion and cilantro-cucumber raita.

Make a reservation On irvine.warehouse72.combecause the opening hours are limited until August 30, when the restaurant will be open every day all day With 7 am Down 22:00